


Paper Hearts ( For Lesbians )

by heartmarch



Series: Paper Hearts Verse [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Co-workers, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Office, Original Character(s), Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21744967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartmarch/pseuds/heartmarch
Summary: This is the original story that was later translated (poorly) into a D+P ficPosting the original for any fans of the D+P version that were curious abt what this started as
Relationships: XeKa Miller/Holly Kelvin
Series: Paper Hearts Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567228
Comments: 1





	1. Chapter 1

She called me and I grabbed my phone quickly

"Thank you for calling technical support this is Holly how can I help you?"

"oh uh hey Holly it's XeKa again I think I pushed the wrong button and the whole excel file went away?"

Holly suppressed a sigh at the third phone call today from the new girl

"No prob bob I'll be right over"

She hung up the phone and started down the hallway to the other side of the building, lightly tapping the wall as she walked. As she approached the coding room, she scanned her badge and made her way through the maze of cubicles till she saw a girl biting the side of her nail and staring at the computer.

"XeKa?" Holly questioned quietly, trying to get the older girls attention

"Oh hi!" XeKa said, frantically moving her chair to the side so Holly could see her screen

"Oh ok, this is an easy fix. Just give me a second" Holly bent over the girls desk and opened up design mode, quickly altering the code written to fix the sheet.

"There ya go, good as new. Oh, before I forget, let me give you my email and then if you have any more questions just screenshot them and send them to me. Phone calls are difficult for me cause I'm hard of hearing." She explained in a low voice before grabbing a sticky note and jotting it down

"Now you can reach me directly"

XeKa just nodded and apologized for having her come down again

"I really don't understand any of this Excel stuff..." XeKa muttered looking at the screen

Holly laughed a little "That's alright that's why they hired me I think"

She winked and walked out of the room, headed back to her office on the opposite side of the building. She settled into her chair and started working on fixing other minor issues until it was time for lunch. She clocked out and quickly walked down to the lunch room, taking her lunch bag out of the company fridge and finding a chair in the sea of tables. She took out her yogurt and popped in her earbuds, catching up on YouTube.

She finished up her lunch and headed back to her office, sighing as she stared at the clock. God this day was slow. Her phone rang and she grabbed it quickly, using her best customer service voice

"Thank you for calling technical support, this is Holly, how can I help you"

"hi uh haha it's me again, XeKa I mean… how do I take a screenshot?" 

"just go to the search bar and look up 'snipping tool' it should come right up"

"oh ok thanks, sorry"

XeKa hung up quickly and Holly returned to her work, a small smile on her face when she realized XeKa spoke up so she could hear. 

Holly unlocked her front door and threw her backpack down, collapsing on the sofa after a long day. Her cat, Persephone, came rubbing up against her leg. 

"You just want food don't you babe?" She laughed at the cat who looked at her with slight distaste

"Alright come on buddy let's grab you and me some dinner, yeah?"

She slipped out of her shoes and walked into the kitchen, throwing up her hair and grabbing a pan.

"Omelettes sound ok?"

Persephone just jumped up on the stool that was near the counter, placed specifically for him. 

"Ham or turkey? I'm thinking about turkey. We had ham the other night. Honestly, we eat too many omelettes buggaboo."

He meowed as she worked through making their dinner. She made herself an omelette and made Persephone a mini one to go with his normal food

Holly grabbed her favorite cup and poured some water and then went to settle in the living room, switching on the TV and eating her dinner. 

"Ya know pudding pop, I'm gonna head to bed soon do you wanna come?"

The cat just continued to lick his paw clean of egg, uninterested in her. She laughed and headed towards her bedroom, slipping on her jammies and getting in bed. 

XeKa stepped through the garage, throwing her bag down and greeting her tank of fish

“Hello friends!!” She tapped the glass gently, getting their attention before sprinkling in their dinner. She walked through her door, putting on the TV and stripping off her work clothes, stepping into her pajamas and grabbing a frozen dinner. She watched it spin around the microwave and sighed as the sounds of the TV were the only thing to accompany her yet again.   
She barely ate the meal, staring blankly at the TV. She decided to reach out to her friends and sent a message to the group chat

XK: Hey guys,,, am sad,, ughh  
PEtertheWeinIER: wats wrong babe  
XK: just sad,, big lonely dumb house  
PSYCHOBABE: hang in there <3  
Siple: :((( you have a WONDERFUL house  
PEtertheWeinIER: uve seen her houze???  
Siple: no but i know   
PEtertheWeinIER: HOW??? She cld live in a boxx

XeKa put her phone down, already tired of her friends. She just wanted someone to come home to. Everything sucked and she decided just to go to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Holly put her scrunchie in and pulled on her jacket. She grabbed her lunch and headed out to make the drive to work. It was only a few minutes from her house, but she still left early every day. There was something calming about being up before the sun and the bustle of 8 am traffic. She pulled into her usual parking spot at 6:30 and made her way to her office, smiling at her custodian friend she always saw.

Holly stopped by the fridge, dumping her lunch on the bottom shelf before she went to the third floor and to her office, scanning her badge to get in. She paused for a second, looking out the window.

"Maybe today won't be so terrible," she thought, settling into her chair. 

XeKa hopped in the shower around 8 am, groggy from tossing and turning all night. She washed quickly and got out, brushing her short pink hair. It stuck up in every direction whether she liked it or not, so she left it and went to find something to wear. 

She decided on a pair of jeans, cuffing them at the ankle, and her favorite blue shirt. She grabbed a bag of poptarts and went to her car, heading to work.

She arrived just before 9 and walked to the cubicle hell she occupied for forty hours a week. She was still unsure about the layout of the new building, even after three weeks of working here she wasn't even sure where the break room was. She put her bag down and clocked in, hoping she could just get through today. 

XeKa looked at her excel progress sheet. She was supposed to record everything she coded throughout the day on this and she kept messing it up. What had the IT girl said about the pivot table? How did she make it show today's numbers? The cursor blinked at her and she couldn't feel more stupid if she tried. Why couldn't she remember this simple thing. Maybe medical coding wasn't for her. Maybe she's just not cut out for it. 

She's pulled out of her thoughts suddenly when she sees a group of people walking through the hallway in suits. She watches them stride along, talking softly to each other as they head to the conference room. Thank God she wasn't an executive, it looked too stuck up. 

XeKa looked back at her computer and sighed. She took a screenshot and sent an email to the IT girl.

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 9:45 am  
From: XeKamiller@CompassHealth.com   
To: HollyKelvin@compasshealth.com  
Subject: Help?

Hey! 

it's XeKa again. I'm really sorry but can you look at the attached? I'm so lost I know you told me I just don't remember anymore

Sorry!  
XeKa

She clicked back into the system and started coding again, just writing down what she was doing on a sticky note till she could get some help. 

XeKa's email notification popped up a short time later and she clicked on it, seeing it was from IT.

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 10:04 am  
From:HollyKelvin@compasshealth.com  
To: XeKamiller@CompassHealth.com   
RE: Subject: Help?

Good morning!! 

I attached a document explaining, but basically you just right click and hit refresh and filter in the day you want to see. 

I hope this helps, if not I'm extension 127 so just dial me directly and I'll come over. 

Thanks!!  
Holly :) 

XeKa could honestly hit herself. Of course, that was it, how could she forget. She quickly updated the sheet and sighed, taking out her second pop tart.

Hours ticked by without her notice and she eventually decided her hunger was taking her over. She walked down the hall, headed to her car and sighed as she got in. 

She went to the same fast food place she always did and got the same burger that she ate in her car before heading back. She listened to her favorite music and looked out of her window as she sat in the parking lot of the office. 

She eventually headed towards her desk when she heard someone crying in the conference room. She walked towards the noise, rising running over her break to see if the person was alright. XeKa peaked around the corner just in time to see someone crouched in the back of the conference room, curled up with their head on their knees. It looked like they were on the phone but it was dark in the room and she could barely see. She tried to hear what the person was saying through their sobs

"I just don't understand why you're saying that I didn't do anything I swear I'm so sorry I promise I'll come right over just please believe-"

She heard more broken sobs coming from the room and she realized whatever was happening was extremely personal so she tiptoed away and went to her desk as quickly as possible. It was only then that she realized she knew that voice.

Holly made her way to the lunch room, having had a stressful day already. Everything was just really stressful. She was opening up her lunch bag when her phone rang. It was Elli, her girlfriend

"Hey Elli Belly how's you?" She said in a cheerful tone, zipping back up her lunch to go find somewhere quieter to talk. 

"So when were you gonna tell me?"

"Tell you what, love?"

"I know you're cheating on me don't fuck around"

Holly was taken aback but it wasn't the first time the accusation had been thrown at her. Elli seemed to always be suspicious of the time Holly spent at work because Elli didn't have a job. She tried not the breathe a sigh at having this conversation again. 

"I'm not love bug, why would you think that?" She questioned quietly, dipping into an empty conference room 

"I saw you're texting someone besides me I know what you're doing" She huffed, getting very close to screaming 

"Who are you talking about? I didn't text anybody last night I just went to bed" Holly said as she sunk to the floor of the conference room, ready for the fight

"You're LYING!" She screamed and promptly hung up. 

Slow tears started to well up in Holly's eyes she'd been so unhappy for so long with Elli. It was like she only knew how to talk in screams. It bugged Holly to no end but she desperately wanted to make it work. This is why she refused to live with Elli, she needed her distance as much as Elli needed time to brood. Holly dialed Elli again and as soon as she picked up, Holly started talking

"Look Elli I'm sorry I- I just don't understand why you're saying that I didn't do anything I swear I'm so sorry I promise I'll come right over just please believe-" She was cut off by Elli hanging the phone up again in an angry huff. Holly knew she'd be over it by tomorrow but it didn't make it hurt any less to feel so alone. She tried to wipe her eyes and get up quickly off the floor. She grabbed her lunch bag and headed to her office, exhausted and no longer hungry.

It had been a week since XeKa heard Holly crying in the conference room. She hadn't so much as sent her an email in that time, feeling guilty for what she overheard. She wondered if Holly had seen her or heard her, she'd never forgive XeKa if she knew. 

XeKa struggled to get through the day. She didn't understand Excel any better and her productivity was down. She couldn't lose another job over this so she picked up her phone and dialed IT quickly to get it over with. 

"Thank you for calling technical support this is Brandon how can I help you?"

"Oh uh sorry I was trying to reach Holly"

"She's not here anymore can I help you?"

"uh nevermind I'll just email her thanks!"

XeKa quickly opened her email and typed out a quick message

Friday, May 10th, 2019 11:04 am  
From: XeKamiller@CompassHealth.com  
To: HollyKelvin@compasshealth.com  
Subject: Help?

Hey!

I'm still having some trouble and I called the help desk and you weren't there… I guess I should have used your extension. Anyway haha could you pop over when you have time?

Thanks!!  
XeKa

She looked at the clock and waited for an answer. She was so worried she has fucked it all up


	3. Chapter 3

Holly hated these stupid meetings. All the stuffy talk when it could have been accomplished in an email. Nothing was gained from getting together in person except the free donuts.

She watched her boss drone on and on about absolutely nothing and stared at the wall clock, begging it to be noon already. She'd take work over this. 

Her phone buzzed and she secretly checked it under the table. She saw a short message from XeKa who works in coding. As good of an excuse as any to leave early she guessed 

"Gentleman I'm so sorry I have an urgent matter to attend to, please excuse me." She said, quickly grabbing her donut and looking at her assistant "Please take notes and remind me to the main topics when I get back"

She rushed out of the room, headed towards the coding cubicles. Her heels clipped against the floors and she made her way to the back of the coding room, tapping the girl on the shoulder. She gave her a bright smile

"You called ?"

XeKa looked up startled, "oh uh yeah sorry I called the desk you weren't there- wait why are you in a suit?" The girl looked her up and down noticing the leopard print heels 

Holly blushed a little, embarrassed she hadn't changed, "oh just the dress code for the meetings is business formal. I do enjoy a bit of rebellion in my shoes though" She said, pointing her foot out and grabbing an empty chair so she could sit next to XeKa. XeKa scooted over, trying to make room, but the cubicle was so small they were still pretty smashed together.

"I don't uh- I don't work in IT I was just helping them cause Brandon was out"  
She said, looking anywhere but XeKa. Why did she feel so awkward looking at the girls legs so close to hers? She shook it off, looking at XeKa with a smile.

XeKa cleared her throat, "The only people I know that wear suits are the executive mHollygers I see walking past sometimes"

Holly met her eyes quickly and then looked away "Yeah that's where I work. I have to say though, I like IT better" She gave a quiet laugh before looking at XeKa's desktop "So what's giving you fits?"

"um just kinda the whole thing I really don't get it. maybe we could start at the top?" She muttered, opening a new sheet 

"Hm yeah that's probably for the best. Let me get some data going" Holly said, typing quickly into the Excel sheet "So what I like to do is just make your data a table cause it just makes it easier to mHollyge. I know it's like an extra step but I just prefer it"

XeKa was taking notes on a sticky pad as she watched Holly click around showing her how to work a pivot table and why they broke sometimes

They worked side by side for hours, going over all the details twice so that XeKa had time to understand. Holly turned out to be a decent teacher at these things and not in a rush to leave the cramped space. She sighed as their session came to its natural conclusion and looked at the clock

"oh! it's one. I have to get going to lunch now, sorry." she stood up abruptly and moved the chair back to where it was and smoothed her suit pants down, frowning at the creases. "it was nice to see you" she smiled at XeKa, realizing she'd had more fun here than she had all week. 

XeKa looked confused for a second but quickly smiled "yeah you too, thank you" 

Holly walked out of the room, smiling quietly to herself as she made her way back to her office

XeKa slipped her phone out of her pocket as she walked towards her car to go to lunch. She saw that her friend group chat had blown up throughout the day and she skimmed through the messages to catch up with it. Then she typed out a message quickly to them asking how they were before driving to the local sub shop that she frequented.

After she arrived and ordered she found a quite back corner of the room to wait for her food. She picked up her phone again and started texting her friends about how the day had gone 

mrtrainman(peter): you LIKE her  
PSYCHOBABE: oh my god you spent the whole day wuith her??????  
Siple:what is wrong with youfjdsakfjdsl; ask her out

XeKa laughed to herself as her food arrived and she thanked the server. She went back to typing into the group chat

XK: guys she’s with someone remember when i heard her on the phone   
mrtrainman(peter): that means NOTHING babes if they’re making you cry it’s NOT love  
Siple: tbh agree^^^  
XK: we literally don't even know if she’s gay CHILL   
PSYCHOBABE: but like….. Go For It

XeKa rolled her eyes and put her phone down, grabbing her sandwich and eating it quickly, scrolling through her tumblr and looking at different videos of animals. She sighed as she looked at the time. Time to go back to work. 

She cleaned up her trash and got back into her car sighing as she started it up. She groaned as she realized she had four more hours of work to finish before she could go home. XeKa left the parking lot and made the drive back to work looking for a parking space as she was about to be late clocking back in. She smiled at the receptionist as she walked into the building after parking. She was quick up the stairs and made it to her desk. She was slightly late clocking in but it was fine she would just stay a little later.

Later that night after she got off work, Holly drove home, grabbing dinner on the way. She didn't feel like cooking tonight. She parked in the garage below her apartment complex and started up the stairs. She waved to some of her neighbors before opening her front door and greeting her cat. 

"Hello sir Persephone how are we today?"

He continued licking his paw without looking at her and she kept talking to him and she set down the food she picked up. She slumped down onto the couch and opened her sandwich. 

"Another very boring day of meetings. I don't know how they can listen to themselves talk about nothing and act like we're making progress" She said through a mouth full of sandwich, peeling off her suit jacket. The cat glanced up at her as if to call her a hypocrite for her constant ramblings to him. He meowed and curled up next to her on the sofa while she ate. 

Holly opened her eyes, glancing at her alarm clock. It was around 9am from what she could tell. She grabbed her phone and stretched up, disturbing Persephone. He uncurled and moved to the bottom of the bed with a huff. She started scrolling through Instagram because it was a Saturday and she had nowhere to be. Her phone started ringing suddenly and she picked it up. 

"Hello?"  
"Hey Holly it's Alex, can we go to brunch? We need to talk"   
"Uh, yeah, are you ok?" she said, stripping back her sheets and looking for her pants   
"Oh yeah it's just important. See you at Waffle House in like ten minutes"

Alex hung up the phone and Holly threw it down on her bed pulling on clothes quickly. What could Alex possibly need at this hour? 

She pet Persephone's head before grabbing her keys and rushing out the door to her car. She drove quickly and made it to waffle House as Alex was pulling up. She walked in with her and as they sat down Alex causally ordered two coffees and then turned to Holly, who looked rather pale. 

"So it's about Elli. I feel like you guys just aren't good for each other ya know? She's kinda pushing you around."

"oh well I'm i don't know she's really nice she just has little outbursts sometimes. I'm glad she yells at me instead of someone important."  
Holly said as the waitress approached with her coffee. She stirred in the creamer quickly and took a sip, shuddering from the bitter taste.  
"She always says she sorry after so it's not a big deal. I don't want to upset her honestly."

Alex sighed and looked out the window  
"I just don't know if she's the one for you, Holly. She's a lot sometimes."

Holly just looked at her curiously but was interrupted by the waitress asking for their orders. She ordered a waffle with extra chocolate chips and a milk. She looked back at Alex as the waitress left

"Why the sudden interest anyway, we hardly talk about her. It's not like we're even that close. Not that we're not friends!" Holly blushed realizing how rude she had sounded but Alex just laughed quietly. 

"Ok ok I'll leave it" Alex conceded, throwing her hands up lightly. 

They continued catching up as their food came and reminded them that they should come more often. They parted ways shortly after and Holly went home spending the whole drive thinking about how kind Alex was to look out for her.


	4. Chapter 4

XeKa looked out the window in her bedroom, listening to the birds chirping quietly. She stretched her arms up and looked at the clock. It was just past 10:30 am and she was planning on going to the farmers market later. She got up and pulled on her work out clothes, fitting in some cardio.

XeKa made some eggs and fed her fish, poking the side of the tank as if to say hello. They looked up at her and then ignored her promptly. 

She changed out of her clothes and got into the shower, noting that her hair would need to be dyed again soon. She shaved her legs and got out quickly thereafter. She stood in front of her closet and tried to decide between overalls and her favorite dress. After a quick check of the weather, XeKa went with the overalls putting a pink shirt under them. 

She made her way out the door after saying goodbye to her fish and grabbing her reusable bags and headed to the farmers market. 

Holly strolled into her house, giggling as she saw her cat asleep on his back in a ray of sunshine. She quietly made her way to the couch and landed on it softly as she turned on the TV. 

She saw on the local news they were hosting a bingo night soon to sponsor the fire department. Holly loved bingo and made note of the date. It would be fun to get out for once, she thought she flipped around to see what was on. She stopped when she saw 13 going on 30 playing. It was about half way through but she had it memorized. 

She should really leave the house eventually. It wasn't good to be cooped up all the time. She should just go to the park. 

"Hey Persephone?? do you want to go to the park??"

He looked up at her from his sun spot with what can only be described as disdain 

"Alright be like that. I'll go alone then." 

She lifted off the couch and started looking around for her shoes that she had thrown haphazardly around when she came in from brunch. She found them lying in a pile near the stairs and slid them on, grabbing her keys and petting her cat goodbye. 

She got into her car and made the short drive to the park. Holly pulled into a spot and got out, grabbing her water bottle she always brought with her and she made her way to the deserted swings that always stood vacant in the fall. She placed her water bottle by the monkey bars and hopped on a swing, started to push off slowly. She swung lazily for a while, looking up at the clouds and giving them names based on cloud type. All the cumulus clouds were Paul. She looked back across the park and saw some tents set up on the other side of the park she never visited. 

Holly squinted to try to see what was happening but all she saw was a crowd of people around a couple white tents. She got off the swing and went over to the slide, going down a couple times and stopping to take a sip of water. She locked up her car and grabbed her backpack, heading towards the mystery tents. 

XeKa followed her usual path to the farmers market behind the Rite-Aid. She smiled at her Aunt as she got out the car

“Hey! How have you been?”   
“Oh hey Darling, I’ve been alright, its a little slow today. We have your favorite though! Cantelope!” 

XeKa beamed and looked over at the selection of melons in the wide array of stands. It was a small couple stands and a few people had back their trucks in and just lowered the back of the trunk. She looked at the community of people looking at the produce critically. Some of them were standing around talking and laughing. She had always loved how kind the farming community was so she kept coming back every week. She walked over to the stand with melons and started lightly smacking them to find one that wasn’t quite ripe so she’d have a few days to eat it. 

“So how’s the new job?”   
“Oh awful as the last one. I’m so tired of quick fix jobs, but it’s a paycheck. I honestly can’t figure out how to work any of the computer nonsense”  
XeKa’s aunt laughed “Oh dear, do you want me to buy you some sort of book?”  
XeKa glared at her slightly before selecting a melon and putting it in her bag and moving to the plums.   
“No actually I’ve just been calling IT every thirty seconds. This girl, Holly, keeps coming over to show me.”  
“Oh does she?” Her aunt hinted, handing XeKa some fresh plums, knowing she’d want to eat them right away.   
“Oh dear God not like that, she’s literally my coworker.”   
Her aunt hummed as she rung XeKa up. 

XeKa got back in her car and drove home. She passed some large white tents in the park and was curious what was happening, but kept driving. 

Holly's lungs were exhausted by the time she made it to the tents to see what the fuss was about. She wormed her way through the crowd till she could see the sign. It read 'community sale' in bold letters. Though the chatter she kept moving till she reached the front of the crowd She looked at the variety of different things being sold, it was set up so the profit went to the local chapter of the boys and girls club. She started looking through the piles to see what was around. She picked up an old used doll and an old pair of overalls that looked much too big for her. She figured she could wear them to garden. Holly grabbed a couple more things including a keychain with a flamingo on it and went to check out. She paid quickly and started walking back to her car, holding her new treaures.

Holly eventually collapsed into her car, warn out and sweaty. She attached the keychain to her backpack with a smile. It was so cute and soft to look at, she was so happy she got it. 

She to the Wawa and went into grab a slurpie, mixing the colors red and blue together. She slipped it as she waited in the check out line, the sugary drinks stained her tongue and she laughed when she saw her reflection in the napkin dispenser by the register. 

After she checked out she headed home, tired from running around but happy she had gotten out of the house without just going to work. 

XeKa shoved her backpack onto her shoulders, realizing she was going to be extremely late. She hadn't slept well over the weekend and was so tired she forgot to set her alarm Monday night. She hustled into her car and drove quickly to the office, running about 15 minutes late. 

As she entered the building she took the elevator instead of messing with the stairs. She smiled at everyone she passed and clocked in only half an hour late. Her day turned out to be uneventful in general and passed by rather slowly. 

She got up the courage to go to the gym after work and used the elliptical while watching whatever was on TV. She looked around the sweaty Gym and watched two girls helping each other bench press, taking turns spotting each other. She laughed when she saw the receptionist's computer showing club penguin. she got off the elliptical and went to the locker room, taking a quick shower and pulling on her lounge clothes before heading home.

Holly was sitting at lunch quietly trying to eat her half a turkey sandwich. She stared out the window and chewed a minuscule bite wondering why she even bothered

Her phone started ringing and she picked it up, seeing it was Elli  
"Hello love, is everything ok?"  
Elli laughed "Of course it is, I just wanted to see if you were free tonight?"  
"oh yeah sure where should I meet you?"  
"I'll come pick you up at like 5:30?"  
Holly looked at the clock seeing it was almost 2 already "I'll be ready!"   
"Great see you soon love"

Holly closed out the project she was working on and hurried to the bathroom, checking her hair. She went back to her office and turned away from a work notification on her email and went out to her car. She went home and got in the shower, not stopping to greet Persephone

Surely this must mean something? she thought as she shaved her legs surely she's going to propose??

She got out and started applying lotion to her legs, studying her collection of bras to find something suitable. She chose a pink lace bra with matching panties and pulled a short light blue dress over top, twirling in the mirror to make sure she looked lovely from all directions. She smiled brightly and she put in her hoops and grabbed her bag, heading to the lower level of her house to wait for Elli.

Around 15 minutes later, Elli pulled into the parking garage and Holly ran down the steps to greet her. Elli stepped out of the car to kiss Holly quickly and open the door for her. Holly beamed at the treatment and laughed when she got in and saw Elli playing her favorite song by Walk the Moon

"Remember when we were just meeting back in college and you played their song and I kissed you because I had never met anyone who liked their music like me?" Holly said softly, looking over at Elli 

Elli laughed and nodded, turning right to head towards downtown

Holly continued, "I can't believe it's been two years! I was so nervous when I kissed you that first time in the cafeteria. I couldn't believe you'd like me back." 

Elli looked over at Holly and smiled "Well I did" 

Holly smiled brightly at Ellis bright blue eyes. Her short blonde hair not meeting her ears anymore since she got it cut into a low fade. She was wearing jeans and a button up shirt with lizards on it. This was Holly's future wife she could just feel it. Every time she was with Elli it's like the world melted away.  
They arrived at the restaurant and Elli opened the door for her. Holly held her hand as they entered the restaurant. Elli had reserved a table and they sat down, Holly smiled brightly and picked up the menu, looking at it trying to figure out what she wanted to get. 

They started off with tiny egg rolls and Holly talked about work and how everything was overwhelming for her with month end closings. Their main course came and Elli smiled at her and talked about how her makeup business was doing and her latest sales. She smiled at Holly

“So I have a tiny bit of surprise” Elli started, pulling something out of her back pocket  
Holly took a deep breath and looked up through her hair at Elli and smiled “Yeah?”  
“It’s not much, but I hope you like it” Elli said handing Holly a small box  
Holly opened it, eyes wide and breath held. When she saw what was staring back at her she tried so hard not to cry. She looked up at Elli with a wide smile   
“They’re beautiful love, thank you so so much” She looked back down at the pearl earrings in the small box. She set them down and put her napkin on the table and excused herself to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and just sighed  
“Holly stop being sad this is a wonderful gift. Just because she doesn’t want to marry you doesn’t mean you need to throw a fit like a baby. Just suck it up and enjoy the night.” She wiped her eyes and practiced a big smile before heading back out to the table. 

They had a wonderful night and laughed and Holly was reminded how much fun they could have when they are together. They got back in the car and headed to Holly’s house where they settled onto the couch and watched Wall-e.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello this is Holly"  
"Oh uh hi it's XeKa I need some help again sorry I'm lost"   
"Oh ok just come over to my office there's more room here." Holly said, looking at her boring office  
"Oh haha ok which one are you?"   
"Room 236, just passed the glass doors at the end of the hall" 

Holly hung up the phone after making sure XeKa knew where she was going and got up to pull the other chair closer to her desk to make room. She heard a knock on her door and went to open it, looking up to smile at XeKa who was clutching a notepad so tightly it looked like it might break. Holly realized she had never seen XeKa standing and hadn't noticed how much taller she was. 

After a long moment of realizing she was just staring at XeKa, she stepped back, motioning to the chair and closed the door behind her. Holly took the chair next to XeKa and looked her kindly.

"So what's giving you fits?"   
XeKa flipped open her notebook, riffling through the pages "So basically I just can't figure out why nothing is tying out on the monthly report? Like I put all the data incorrectly but it comes up weird on the reconciliation?"   
"Oh ok, sounds like a formula error then, no big shakes let me look at it for a second." Holly's quick work found XeKa's file quickly and she clicked into it looking around.

The two sat quietly while Holly worked on the process. She went through all the formulas, asking XeKa what the goal was behind a few of them before she altered anything. After she had finished, Holly sat back in her chair and looked over at XeKa while she pulled open her desk drawer to grab her glasses

XeKa glanced into the drawer, seeing a scattering of physical copies of pictures of Holly and some woman with cropped blonde hair. She looked down and saw more pictures like it buried under some post it notes. Was that her girl?

"Who's that?" She couldn't help but ask Holly, pointing to the stack of pictures. 

Holly quickly shut the drawer and looked a little nervous as she stood up quickly "uh it's my girlfriend. not like my friend who's a girl my girlfriend one word we kiss and stuff" she said extremely quickly moving to the other side of her office in a couple short steps to open some drawers in what seemed like a random haphazard pattern

XeKa looked back at the drawer that had been snapped closed and she looked over at Holly  
"Oh that's nice, why don't you hang the pictures up? Wouldn't it be better to have them where you could see them?"

Holly turned back around, looking at the floor with her arms crossed over her stomach. She leaned against the chest of drawers, "I don't really want people knowing. not that being gay is bad or anything I just don't really want everyone having an opinion of me just from that, it's already impossible to be the youngest executive. I'm the only female and the only Latina in this entire department I don't need to be gay too, people will ignore my opinion more than they already do." She finished quietly, looking up at XeKa through her eyelashes. She glanced at the hidden drawer and took off her glasses to wipe her eyes quickly.

"Well you're not alone" XeKa said, after a minute to think

"I'm sorry?" Holly blinked, moving closer to the other girl curiously

"I'm not an executive and I don't even understand what the emails I've seen pop up on your computer are, but I get how you feel. I'm gay too, well pan actually but ya know I kiss girls." She said with a tiny laugh to ease the thick tension that hung between them. 

Holly sat back down in the chair next to her and looked at XeKa with a small smile "Oh"

Holly couldn't remember when the sun had set as she looked out at the clouds. Apparently she and XeKa had been talking for quite a while. She looked over at her

"I'm so sorry to have kept you, we should probably head home"  
"Oh no actually I enjoyed myself" XeKa said, standing up "I'll walk you out?"   
Holly smiled and grabbed her bag, shutting down her computer and heading towards the door. She locked it behind her and they went down the elevator in comfortable silence. XeKa followed Holly to her large black truck she had parked in the back of the lot   
"So um would you want my number just in case you want to vent or something?" XeKa asked, looking rather tense  
Holly nodded, grabbing her phone and handing it over. XeKa quickly typed her name and number in, sending herself a text.   
"Ok cool well text me whenever" XeKa said, smiling brightly  
"Definitely. Thanks for today, really" Holly said, looking her in the eyes. XeKa could see some redness in them that meant Holly hadn't been sleeping.   
"Oh it's nothing, I hate coding all day, it was nice to have a break"   
"I feel the same way" Holly smiled, opening her car door. XeKa stepped back and Holly waved as she pulled out of the parking lot. 

XeKa hung back, grabbing her phone and adding Holly's contact information in quickly. She looked up at the sky for a minute, looking at the dark clouds that brewed overhead. She thought it might storm so she made her way back into the building and grabbed her belongings from her desk. The rest of the office was empty and she could see quite a few emails waiting for her to respond to. She just shut off her computer and headed home

Holly clambered into her house, dropping her bag as soon as the rain began and closing the door behind her. She locked it and made her way to her bedroom, not hungry for dinner. She spotted Persephone on her bed and pet his furry head before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She collapsed face first her bed, not bothering with the covers. Her head was spinning as her phone started to ring. 

“Hello?”  
“Hi babe, I’m really like thinking about our relationship, can we talk?” Elli said, sounding tired  
“Of course, what’s up?” Holly said, sitting up quickly, hoping this was the moment she was waiting for  
“I’m just thinking we should maybe go out of town together to like reconnect”   
“Oh? Like where?” Holly said, sliding back down onto her pillow   
“Maybe Hershey Park?” Elli said, sounding excited   
“Yeah! That sounds so fun babe, when do you want to go?”   
“Maybe next week?”  
“I’m not sure I can next week, I have to work, that’s kind of short notice.”  
“Oh.” Elli said, sounding distant all of a sudden  
“Maybe the week after that? Would that be ok?”  
“I’ll have to check my calendar, love you”Elli said, hanging up

Holly looked at the end of her bed and stared at the ceiling. She picked up her phone and send a text to XeKa on impulse

Holly, 9:04pm: Do you ever feel like you’re not enough for the person you’re dating?  
XeKa,9:07pm: Everything ok?   
Holly looked at the text for a minute. She rubbed Pershephones head and he purred quietly.   
Holly,9:10pm: Yeah just my friend having relationship troubles :p, I don't know what to tell her   
XeKa: 9:11pm Oh ok  
XeKa: 9:17pm: I don't think that’s normal no. I feel like if you’re feeling sad about your relationship you should have a talk with your partner about why and how it happened. Maybe tell her to have a quick chat about how she’s feeling with her partner?  
Holly read the response a couple times. She turned over and pulled her comforter over her head and groaned into her pillow. Why did she feel so bad with Elli after having such a good dinner last night? She was the problem here, she just needs to get over herself and be a better girlfriend. She buried her nose into her pillow and fell into a restless sleep


	6. Chapter 6

Holly groaned as her alarm went off. She swayed as she tried to stand, belatedly realizing she had a killer headache. She stumbled to find her curtains and shoved them closed, fumbling back into bed. She grabbed her phone and sent an email to her assistant letting her know that she wouldn't be in today and pulled the comforter over her head. 

A couple hours later she woke up feeling utterly green with nausea. Holly pulled her comforter back quickly and ran to the bathroom to be sick. She laid on the bathroom floor and wiped her mouth with the back of her pajama sleeve. As she stared at the ceiling she thought about how much she wanted squash soup. It was all she was craving in that moment of feverish sickness. 

She heard some scuffling coming from the other room and thought maybe Persephone was running around. She lifted her head slightly to see if she could angle her good ear better to hear what was happening. She heard the distant sound of a couple voices filling her apartment living room. She tried to close the bathroom door with her foot so whoever was out there couldn't see her, but she couldn't push it all the way closed. Holly looked at the door in silence wondering why someone would be breaking into her house in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. How did they get in? She left her phone on the bed so she couldn't call for help.

Holly shuffled closer to the bathtub, feeling sick all over again. She pushed herself against the side of the tub, trying to perch herself up. If she was going to die she at least wanted to be found sitting up. She heard footsteps moving closer to her and heard them enter the bedroom. She couldn’t tell if it was one or two people but she held her breath hoping not to be found. She could see slightly through the crack that had been left when she tried to close the door. Holly gently tried to scoot closer to the door to see out of this small opening without making noise. She peered through and saw the back of someone with short blonde hair that just touched her ears. Whoever it was was looking down at the person sitting on the bed. It was a smaller figure with brown hair and she was holding onto the other person's hips. When she stood up to kiss the blond haired person they turned to the side and Holly saw a piercing she knew too well. It clicked suddenly. Alex and Elli. In her room. When Elli knew Holly would usually be at work. She closed the door silently and slipped into the bathtub, tracing the grout between the tile that lined the walls. 

Alex and Elli. 

numb.

everything crashed through her mind so quickly she couldn't breathe

numb.

she refused to believe this even as she heard her bed creak and quiet moans

numb.

two years of her life. she swore Elli would be the one at the end of the isle

numb.

this couldn't be happening

numb.

she would pretend this hadn't happened

numb.

Holly closed her eyes and felt the cold tile press against her cheek

she grabbed her phone and looked through Ellis Instagram

There were no photos of Holly.

There were only photos of Elli.

She looked at Alex's Instagram. She scrolled and scrolled. She saw nothing about Elli

How could this be so inconsequential to her. How could she strangle the life out of Holly and not even consider this more than a fuck

Holly looked at Ellis tagged photos. She saw her with the same man over and over that Elli said was just her brother's friend. Holly tapped his profile and saw them together in every picture. She was wearing a ring. He smiled. She was also wearing a bracelet Holly bought her for their anniversary.

Holly waited for Elli and Alex to leave with hushed giggles following their voices. Her ears rang with raves of anger.

Furious

Holly grabbed Ellis belonging and calmly placed them in a small box

Furious

She placed the box outside her apartment door

Furious

She blocked Elli on all social media and sent on message before blocking her number

Furious

"Your things are outside my door. Do not contact me again. Enjoy Chris. And Alex."

Furious

Holly blocked Alex on every social media and her phone

Furious

She called the locksmith. He would be there in an hour to change her locks

She screamed. An ugly guttural noise that had been building up in her throat for hours. She screamed until her throat was raw. She screamed until tears ran down her face and her screams turned into sobs

She layed in bed for days. Holly barely ate. She had half eaten granola bars laying on the floor around her bed. She had so many unread emails and notifications every time she checked her phone for the time. Every time she closed her eyes she Could see the pictures of Elli and Chris on her phone. How brightly Elli shined next to him. Would his heartache when he found out? Would he lay in his bed completely hollow? Was it Holly's responsibility to tell him? 

She flipped over and landed her nose to her pillow and groaned. This was the question she was stuck on. Who knew. Did Alex know? How long has this been going on? How could Holly be this naive? How could she let this happen. 

She flipped over again. She was completely Tangled in her sheets at this point and she couldn't care less. Her back hit the mattress hard as she memorized her ceiling for the 7th time in however long she'd been laying here. Holly huffed out a big breath and picked up her phone. She quickly scrolled through her long list of notifications and decided just to call her assistant 

"Holly? oh god thank God you're alive what happened are you alright you called out 4 days ago I've been worried sick why aren't you responding?" 

"Jessica please let everyone know I've decided to finally take my paid vacation I have stacked up. I'll talk to you soon" 

Holly hung up quickly after that and fell back against her pillow without a second look at her phone. 

XeKa was concerned. Slightly. it was Friday and she's been sending Holly pictures of cats in various funny costumes since Monday with no response. Not that she expected a response. or should expect a response. There was no reason for her to be wandering the halls, hoping to see Holly. Maybe she wasn't by her phone. Maybe her girlfriend and she was staying away. Maybe she was just busy. 

XeKa sighed and stared at the wall nothing short of confused.


	7. Chapter 7

It was official. Holly had to go back to work. She looked like hell but four days was too long to be away in the first place. She just rolled out of bed and got in her car and drove straight over without lunch or a plan. She made in record time and when she finally looked at the clock she realized it was just 6 am. She walked into the building and flopped into her office, burying herself in her work. The next time Holly glanced at the clock it was 12 pm. She opened her drawer to grab her lip balm and saw the pictures of her and Elli. She picked one up and looked at it for a minute before putting it back down and inspecting another one. Was Elli’s smile genuine? How long had this been going on? That was a question that had haunted Holly. She placed the picture down and a memory came through mind of her and Elli laughing when this particular picture was taken. It was early into their relationship and they had gone mini-golfing and stopped to take a picture. 

After staring at a couple more pictures she closed the drawer and slowly tears started falling down her face. Her vision blurred in pain and a choked sound made it way out of her throat. She stared at the clock on her phone and started opening the messages she had missed recently. She saw a couple texts from her mom and responded that she hoped they could meet up and catch up soon. She responded to a couple friends and saw her feed slammed with messages about Elli and Alex and quickly closed out of social media. She opened her texts and saw some from XeKa. Holly smiled as she scrolled through six or seven cats in silly costumes and she wiped the tears from her face quickly and locked her phone. She grabbed her lunchbox and headed towards the breakroom. 

XeKa looked at the phone for the 7th time in a couple minutes. The read flag was taunting her thoughts. She looked at the clock and again at her phone. It was 1 pm. She’d been going to the lunchroom at 1 pm every day for a week hoping to see Holly. Hoping to make sure she was ok. XeKa couldn’t pin down exactly what she was worried had happened but she knew it was eating at her middle. Her chest ached as she stood and headed towards the lunchroom. She paused briefly to buy a bag of bugles and arrived at the lunchroom, scanning it for a second before spotting Holly. 

Holly was hunched over a small bowl of yogurt. She dipped the spoon in and out of the yogurt, not even really stirring it. Just poking it and looking like she was so far away from where she was seated. XeKa debated for half a second before heading over to Holly’s table and sitting across from her. Holly didn’t even look up or notice XeKa as she placed down her bugles and shuffled her phone out of her pocket. XeKa opened her bugles and started nibbling on the end of one while she scrolled through her social media silently. She kept sneaking glances at Holly while she nibbled the corn chip. 

Eventually Holly hits the bottom of the yogurt cup so hard that the yogurt spills over and falls on her hand. This wakes her up from her haze as she licks the yogurt off her hand and glances around. She spots XeKa and offers her a small smile as she takes a small bite of the yogurt from the cup. XeKa smiles back and goes back to looking at her phone, trying not to frighten Holly. Clearly something had happened to Holly. She was so pale and her hair was sticking up in odd angles, obviously unwashed or brushed for quite some time. She was wearing mismatched pajamas and her eyes were puffy and red. Holly looked like she hadn’t slept properly in days. XeKa wondered if she had been sick. Maybe a family member had passed? 

It was none of XeKa’s business unless Holly decided to tell her was what XeKa ultimately decided. So she started gently placing the bugles on the end of her fingers and she reached over and scraped them over Holly’s hand. Holly jumped and looked over and then saw XeKa wiggling her newly made claw hand and smiled brightly. Holly’s smile looked wrong, it was stretched too tightly and looked as though she was just learning how to. XeKa laughed in spite of this and popped one of the bugles into her mouth, smiling brightly at Holly.

Holly brought out her phone and started typing quickly before sliding it over to XeKa. XeKa picked up the phone and saw an open note with some text written. 

“Will you come to dinner with me?” 

Holly looked at her with anticipation as XeKa nodded.

“Yeah of course! Where do you want to go?” She said, sliding the phone back over to Holly just in case she didn’t want to talk. 

“Applebees?” Holly typed out and slid it back over quickly, looking slightly more present. 

XeKa just nodded and typed out on the screen “It’s a date”


	8. Chapter 8

Holly leaned against the pillows that lined the back of her bed. She stared at her legs laid out bare in front of her. She looked out the window to the left of her room and back at her legs. Before she could make a decision her phone vibrated loudly. She picked it up and opened a text from a number she didn't recognize 

"hey it's Elli. I see you blocked my number. I borrowed Chris's phone to text you. I hope you're well"

Holly blinked at the message a couple times, tears blurring her vision before turning her phone off and crawling under the covers

XeKa grabbed her phone as soon as she made it home and texted her groupchat immediately

XK: I'm having dinner with Holly what do I WEAR  
Sandman(Peter): DSHJDHFD ARE YOU SERIOUS  
PSYCHOBABE: CONGRATS  
siple: maybe jeans?   
siple: also KISS THE GIRL

XeKa laughed and stared into her closet. She suddenly realized she had nothing good enough for this occasion. Although Holly was fine with her work clothes she really wanted to wear something nicer. She picked out a red and blue plaid shirt and black jeans and sent a picture to her friends

Siple: NOT ENOUGH TIT  
Sandman (Peter): MORE!!! TITTI!!!

XeKa unbuttoned a few buttons but felt weird about it so she sent another picture

XK: I feel like this is way too much.   
sandman(Peter): NOT ENOUGH!!!   
XK: nope. locking it down this is borderline inappropriate  
sandman(Peter): =[ but date night  
XK: it's not even a date really though we're just having dinner   
siple: SHALALLALA MY OH MY

XeKa sighed and pulled off the plaid shirt. She slipped on a fuzzy purple sweater she owned over some leggings and decided that was good enough. 

Before she left for Applebee's she shot Holly a text saying she was about 15 minutes away and would be there soon. 

Holly's phone vibrated with the text, but she was snoring too loudly to hear it. 

XeKa pulled into the parking lot off the Applebee's and checked her reflection quickly in the mirror. She ran her tongue over her teeth one last time before walking in to the restaurant. She told the hostess her date was coming soon and she was seated at a table for two. 

She ordered a water and waited for Holly to arrive. As she waited she stared out the window hoping to see Holly's truck 

After 20 minutes XeKa was growing restless of waiting. She sent Holly Another message asking if she was alright. Then she put her phone down to tell the waiter that her date would be a few minutes later than anticipated. XeKa thought that the waiter was beginning to think the date was made up and she wasn't sure she disagreed.

She ordered an appetizer to buy her some more time and looked at her phone intently

Holly's eyes squinted, trying to read the clock through her blurry sleep ridden vision. She glanced at her phone and saw she had unread texts from XeKa and quickly opened them. 

As soon as she read the first one she has tore back her sheets and fell face first into the floor trying to get out of bed. She stumbled down the hallway, grabbing her house and car keys and hopping into her shoes, tripping on the untied laces and she raced to her car. 

She lived about 10 Minutes from the Applebee's and hoped she could make it in time. She quickly backed out of the driveway and raced towards the restaurant, hoping to catch XeKa. 

She pulled into the parking lot 8 minutes later after carefully ignoring speed limits and clambered out of her car just to trip on her untied laces again as she tried to approach the entrance

XeKa finally gave up 10 minutes later. She'd waited over half an hour and overstayed her welcome. She grabbed her to go box of what was left of the appetizer and left the restaurant.

As she was walking to her car, she noticed a crumpled figure next to a large black truck. Whoever it was was wearing pajama bottoms with different shaped cookies on them and a shirt that looked to be about 4 sizes too big on them. As XeKa got closer she saw a pair of pink sneakers she recognized that were untied 

"Holly?" 

Holly grumbled as she raised her head up slightly "wha-" 

XeKa looked at Holly's battered face. She had taken a pretty bad hit from the pavement. XeKa got closer and put her bag down, kneeling next to Holly 

"Come here let me see your face"

Holly rolled onto her back so XeKa could assess the damage, her eyes slipping closed again. XeKa thought she might fall asleep between the shock of the fall and the pajamas she was sporting. 

XeKa careful scanned her body and noticed a tear in the knee of Holly's pajamas and scrapes on her hands. She noted that her nose was probably broken from the fall once she saw the quickly forming bruises along with the amount of blood running down Holly's face. 

"Oh dear. I told you to tie your shoes you know" 

Holly opened her eyes slightly, looking up at XeKa but more blearily past her "Dunno how"

"You don't know how?"

Holly slipped her eyes closed again "Nuh uh. Who're you?" 

"It's XeKa from work, Holly. How're you feeling, does your head hurt?" XeKa said, sitting down next to her on the pavement and gently moving Holly's hair out of the way 

Holly leaned into the touch gently and then scrunched up her face "Mhm. More when I move it" 

XeKa looked up at her car and then back at Holly's, "Come on, then you're in no condition to drive. I don't think you have a concussion, but we should probably get you checked just in case" She said, standing back up and pulling her bag over her shoulder and extending an arm to Holly who blinked up at her and lifted her hand limply. 

XeKa gently pulled her up and started walking her towards the car on the other end of the lot. Holly still had her eyes mostly closed as she stumbled forward so XeKa wrapped an arm around her middle and held her tightly so she wouldn’t fall again. Holly put her head on the side of XeKa’s arm making a small noise like she might fall asleep any second. 

“Zee where we going?”   
“We’re going to urgent care”   
“I don't like doctor” Holly looked up at XeKa with a pout   
“Put on your seatbelt, honey”   
XeKa smiled as she walked to the other side and got into the drivers side, turning the car on and looking over at Holly who was tangled in her seatbelt and looking like she was trying to fight it. 

“Need some help?” XeKa laughed, reaching over and untangling it and buckling it around Holly. She took a second to look over Holly, noting how the shirt fell off her body due to the size and her shoes were scuffed on the tops from what looked like several similar falls. She sighed and started the car, ignoring Holly’s mumbling about hating the doctors. 

They arrived at urgent care relatively quickly and XeKa pulled into a parking spot and walked to Holly’s side and got her out, leading her inside. They signed in and sat down in the waiting room. XeKa handed Holly the paperwork and pulled out her phone. She heard a clattering and looked over to see Holly had fallen asleep holding the pen. XeKa nudged her and woke her up and grabbed the sheet, helping her fill it out before she handed it to the receptionist. 

They were called back shortly after that and they were left in an exam room after they took Holly’s vitals. After a short wait the doctor came in looking tired. He raised his brow as he came to look at Holly covered in blood and half asleep

"Oh dear. And what has happened here?"  
"Fell" Holly mumbled before leaning against XeKa who stood next to the exam table.   
"She fell on the pavement in the parking lot" XeKa said   
"Nuh uh I fell before that"  
"Before that?" the doctor questioned, taking notes on a laptop   
"Yup! Fell in my house." Holly said quietly, closing her eyes quietly. 

The doctor approached Holly and lifted her wrist, noting some bruising and rotating it which earned a whine from Holly.   
He looked at her face and gently pressed against it

"Alright a sprained wrist and a broken nose but nothing too bad, I'll order a CAT scan to be on the safe side but she appears fine beyond a small bit tired." 

He shook their hands and left the room, leaving them alone once more


	9. Chapter 9

XeKa looked over at Holly concerned “Why did you fall in your house?”   
“I was rushin’, I was late”   
“You could have just texted, I would have understood,” XeKa said, sweeping her hair out of her face so it wouldn’t get matted to the blood.   
“Elli bugging me”  
“Your girlfriend?”   
“Texted me from her boyfriend phone”  
“Oh?”  
“Zeeee?”  
“Yes Holly?”   
“Don’t wanna talk about it”   
“Just close your eyes. They’ll be in soon to take you for the CAT scan. Make sure you ask for something to wash your face with” XeKa cautioned her, looking at the girls rapidly bruising face.   
“Mkay. My head hurts”   
“It’ll be okay, they just have to make sure it’s not too hurt and then we can go home, ok?”  
“Oh home. I like home.” Holly scrunched her face “No. Don’t wanna go home and see Elli”   
“Is she at your house”   
“In a way” Holly mumbled, not explaining further as she opened her eyes to look up at XeKa with watery eyes “Can I go with you?” 

Before XeKa could answer, there were two quiet knocks on the door before a nurse entered looking at the papers that detailed Holly’s case. “Are we ready for the scan?”   
Holly hopped off the table and stumbled over to the nurse who took her hand and led her out of the room, leaving XeKa alone to think.   
Was XeKa taking advantage of Holly if she took her home? She clearly wasn’t in her right mind at the moment and it didn’t seem right to take her home. But Holly had looked at her so pleadingly it had almost hurt. 

XeKa considered this as she headed towards the cafeteria to grab some coffee. She was beginning to get tired from the stress of the evening and wasn’t sure how long this was going to take. She smiled at the exhausted looking cafeteria worker, grabbing a bag of goldfish on the off chance she could get Holly to eat something after her tests. She walked back to the exam room they had promised to bring Holly back to after she was finished and sat in the chair sipping it quietly. 

Holly arrived back into the room shortly thereafter and XeKa smiled at her kindly> The nurse helped Holly back onto the exam table   
“Alright we do have a confirmation on that concussion and a hairline fracture on the wrist along with the sprain. Nothing horrible, but we’re going to give her a sling till she’s a little more present and can handle not moving it in a way that would further the fracture.” The nurse said, securing a sling around Holly’s back and putting her right arm into it. 

“I’ll be right back with the release paperwork” The nurse smiled at XeKa, leaving the room

Holly looked over at XeKa and saw her cup and put her hand out “Sip?” She said, making grabbing motions at XeKa  
XeKa passed the coffee over to her and Holly took a long sip and then screwed up her face and handed it back “Coffee” She mumbled before throwing up all down the front of her clothes and on the table she was seated on. She looked up at XeKa with tears brimming her eyes “ow” 

XeKa hopped off the table and poked her head out of the curtain surrounding Holly’s bed and waved to the nearest nurse “Hey my friend just threw up all over herself?” XeKa said as the nurse came in and saw Holly sitting covered in throw up and crying “Oh dear. Must be the concussion” She mumbled, reading Holly’s sheet that was attached to the foot of her bed 

Holly shook her head and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand “‘llergic”   
“Allergic? To what?”   
“Coffee”   
“Oh god” XeKa said, looking down at the coffee cup she was holding, “I had no idea”   
The nurse laughed and looked over at XeKa “She just has a weak stomach so the acid in coffee gets rejected immediately. She’s not really “Allergic” it’s just too caustic for her stomach”   
The nurse left the room to grab a mop as the first nurse came back with the discharge papers   
“Oh dear what happened here”   
“Coffee accident,” XeKa said, taking the clipboard to start filling out the information   
“Oh I see, you’ve met “I forget I can’t drink coffee Holly”” The nurse laughed   
XeKa wondered how everyone here at the hospital seemed to know Holly so well. 

Once they had given Holly a rough wipe down and finished the paperwork they got back into XeKa’s car and as she was turning it on XeKa made the decision she’d been dreading   
“Ready to go home sweetheart?” She said, looking at Holly.   
Holly was sound asleep in the passenger's seat, still clutching the seat belt buckle like she was just about to put it on. XeKa sighed and leaned over to click it into place. She started driving to her house with a small smile of her head at the sleeping girl next to her. 

XeKa looked over at Holly and then at her front door. How exactly was she going to get this girl into her house? There was so much left unsaid between the two of them and XeKa had more than one question in the back of her mind about the event that had happened over the course of the past couple of hours. 

XeKa resigned herself to trying to wake Holly up to see if there was a way she could walk inside the house herself. She nudged Holly gently and unbuckled the girls seatbelt. Holly's head lolled to the side as she blinked heavily and frowned. She straightened up slightly and grabbed her head 

"Fuck" she muttered and rubbed her temples, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands. 

XeKa looked at her curiously "Ready to go in?"

Holly jumped up out of her chair and screamed as Xeka started talking and Xeka laughed "It’s just me. We're at my house because you really shouldn't be alone right now. How do you feel?"

Holly glared at her from the passenger's side "Wonderful. thank you for asking" She looked up at the house in front of her and smiled at the neat bushes that lined the walkway. 

XeKa unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car and walking to Holly's side to help her out. Holly leaned against XeKa as they walked into the house.

She settled Holly on the couch and then turned on the lights and closed the door behind them. She sighed as Holly’s head lolled over to the side and her eyes closed

“You can’t sleep on the couch, come on” 

Holly’s eyes opened and she blinked at the bright lights. Her eyebrows scrunched up as a look of confusion flashed over her eyes “Have to go” 

XeKa laughed, “I don’t think you’re going anywhere” 

Holly shook her head and tried to stand up and swayed, trying to find her footing “No no…. Have to go. Have date. Xee. She’s waiting” 

XeKa gently grabbed Holly’s shoulder and shook it slightly “I’m right here Holly. You need to get in bed now” 

“Bed?” Holly said, looking at her with a heartbreaking look of confusion. XeKa was so grateful she was the one taking care of Holly. Her chest felt warm looking at Holly’s face. It was round and soft along the edges. Painted dark purple and blue with bruises spreading out from her nose. 

“Yeah. Bed” She brushed Holly’s hair out of her face and helped her to her own bedroom. She eased the tired girl onto the bed and grabbed a pair of sweats for her to wear. She handed them to Holly who looked at her in confusion. She held the clothes up and they fell out of her limp hands. 

XeKa sighed deeply and put the clothes back on Holly’s lap, “Are you going to be a limp noodle all night?”

Holly just fell backwards onto the bed and started rubbing her face against the soft blanket that laid on top of XeKa’s sheets. XeKa rubbed her temple as she contemplated dressing Holly. It felt like crossing a line but she didn’t want Holly to sleep in her bloody, torn clothes. She still smelled like throw up. XeKa didn’t really have a choice so she helped Holly into a sitting position and stripped off her shirt. She saw there was dried blood and throw up on Holly’s stomach so she told her to sit still and went to the bathroom to get a rag. When she came back with a wet rag Holly was on the floor sprawled out on her back. 

XeKa squinted at the bed and then back at Holly, “How did you even pull that off” 

“Went looking for you.” Holly muttered, shrugging and looking up at her

“But I told you to stay here” XeKa muttered back, walking over to help the bruised girl back onto the bed and started to clean her stomach and chest of the gross dried bodily fluids. 

“Oh. Sorry” Holly said, closing her eyes, her head falling forward till it was rest against XeKa. XeKa just laughed softly down at her and laid her back so she could shimmy her pants down and clean her legs. 

XeKa gasped as she saw how scratched Holly legs were. She quickly realized she was looking at something incredible private and quickly wiped down Holly’s legs and pulled on the sweatpants. She helped Holly stand so she could pull back the covers and then laid the girl down. She smiled in relief as Holly was finally clean and as comfortable as could be. 

XeKa left to rinse out the rag and hang it to dry. She walked into the kitchen to grab some pain relief she was sure Holly would need in the morning and headed back to the bedroom to see Holly sound asleep and cuddling the covers close to her. She gently set the pills on the table next to her and then went to the bathroom to get a glass of water. At the last minute she grabbed a trashcan in case Holly was sick in the night. 

XeKa settled into the bed beside Holly and picked up the book she had been reading and opened it and started to read.


	10. Chapter 10

SMACK

The sound rang out in the quiet room.

“What was that?!” Holly said, waking up  
“You just smacked my face!” XeKa said, rubbing her sore cheek  
“Wait where am I?”   
“At my house. You had a bad concussion and couldn’t handle yourself”  
“Oh. That’s why I feel like shit.” Holly groaned as she rubbed her temples.   
XeKa handed her the pain meds and a glass of water. Holly looked up a little surprised but accepted the medication. She groaned and laid back down and then opened her eyes   
“Wait what am I wearing?”  
“My sweats”  
“How did I dress myself?”   
“Uh. You didn’t” XeKa said quietly, sitting up slightly.   
“You did what” Holly said, looking over at her  
“You couldn’t move and you were covered in blood and vomit I figured you’d rather not sleep in that”   
“Oh. well uh, thank you. Sorry. About everything.” She said, pausing between her sentences and rubbing her head like she was still a little gone.   
XeKa gently tucked the blanket around her, “Get some rest, it’s just 4 am”   
Holly closed her eyes with a small smile on her face

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun rose outside of Holly’s window and she looked out into the street. She was alone in the bed with the covers pulled up around her neck. She was overly warm and gently slapped them down so she could breathe. There was a stinging sensation in her eyes as she opened the curtains and looked outside. Holly gasped when she didn’t notice the street around her. She looked back at the bed and saw the glass of water looking at her. She had vague memories of someone giving her a pain reliever in the middle of the night. She rubbed her eyes and started out of the room. 

Holly heard clanking in the kitchen and went to investigate the noise further. She wanted to know where she was. The noises were loud enough to be heard even though Holly was hard of hearing. She looked around the corner before entering the room fully. Just as Holly saw a short haired girl stirring something in a bowl she squeaked and ran down the hallway again. XeKa heard a small scuffle behind her and turned around

“Holly?” She said, putting down the pancake batter she had been stirring and going after the girl.   
“I’m not dressed!” Holly called out from the bedroom. XeKa gently opened the door and found Holly with the blankets pulled up over her head   
“Did you take off the sweats?” XeKa wondered, walking closer to the tall form of the girl lying under the covers.   
“No, but I don't have on Real Clothes” She said as though this was an official outfit.  
XeKa laughed and gently held back the covers, “I’m making pancakes!” She announced brightly.   
Holly grumbled and pulled the covers around her face, “What kind”   
“Chocolate chip”   
Holly jumped out of the bed and ran down the hallway towards the kitchen and XeKa laughed as she followed her 

XeKa laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how that had all happened so quickly. She rolled over and smelled the pillow that still smelled like Holly. 

After Holly had left that morning, XeKa sat in the kitchen and stared out the window and was unsure of herself. She cleaned the kitchen slowly and thoughtfully and then collapsed on her bed. She hadn’t had anyone over since she had moved to the area and she was confused as to how Holly had ended up in her bed the night before. She was overcome with a sense of worry suddenly, thinking about how Holly had gotten home. She shot a quick text the younger girl’s way. There was a quick response that she had gotten home perfectly safe and fine. There was a sigh of relief from XeKa as she flopped back down onto her bed. She did not like the worried feeling sitting deep in her chest when she thought about what might happen to Holly. 

Holly rubbed her head as she wretched into the toilet again. She was reminded of the day when she had found out about Elli. Her heart burned at the thought of her ex and tears stung her eyes from more than her sickness. She missed Elli. She missed her short hair and her gentle smile and her kind words, no matter how rare they were. The deep feeling of pain lingered when she saw pictures of Elli. There was no returning to how things had been when they were together. She knew she had to reconstruct her life, but the thought made her queasy. Or maybe she was just going to be sick again. She pressed her cheek to the side of the cool porcelain bathtub and waited for the waves of nausea to pass. 

When she got up, she saw the pearl earrings sitting on her dresser. She walked over to them and held them in her hand. Something broke inside her looking at those earrings and her vision blurred with tears. She fell to her knees and cried heavily weighted sobs into the empty room. She collapsed forward onto her hands, dropping the earrings and watching them roll under the dresser. 

Why am I so unlovable she thought to herself as she continued to sob what did I do to drive her away. What did I do wrong. What’s wrong with me 

She continued to sob till it left her exhausted and asleep on the floor, still smelling like hell. 

XeKa collapsed into her cubicle and clocked in. She filtered through a plethora of emails and began her work for the day. She saw an email notification from Holly. She opened it and saw a picture of a cat 

Monday,, May 20th, 2019 08:10 am  
From: HollyKelvin@compasshealth.com  
To: XeKamiller@CompassHealth.com  
Subject: Happy Monday! 

It’s not a happy monday. I'm exhausted.   
Also thank you for not letting me die in an Applebee’s parking lot. 

X,  
Holly 

XeKa read the email a couple times before responding. She wanted to make sure she said just the right thing.   
Monday, May 20th, 2019 08:19 am  
From: XeKamiller@CompassHealth.com  
To: HollyKelvin@compasshealth.com  
Re:Subject: Happy Monday! 

No problem. Can’t have an executive dying in her kitty cat pajama pants. Imagine the headlines. 

X, XeKa

XeKa considered how to sign the email for a good 5 minutes before just deciding to copy Holly. She didn’t want to make anything awkward. Her leg bounced under the desk she sat (in)patiently at. She wondered if she had crossed a line as she waited and waited. Half an hour passed and she decided to try to accomplish some work before she was fired. 

Her excel broke about an hour later. She called IT and asked Brandon to help her. He came over and fixed it quickly and told her to buy a book on how to work to system. She flipped him off as he turned to leave. 

XeKa laid her head down on her desk as it reached lunch time and she was running out of steam. Her hair flopped forward, covering her face and lulling her to sleep in the darkness it created. She was startled back to reality by a small finger poking into her back. She whipped around to see Holly looking disheveled and holding a bright red high heel with the heel in one hand and the shoe in the other. She grimaced at XeKa when she saw she had been sleeping.

“Sorry!! I just can’t figure out how to fix this and I have a meeting in ten minutes” Holly whispered apologetically, signing sorry on her chest with sign language. 

“Oh no, it’s no problem,” XeKa said groggily, wiping the drool from her mouth. “Come on, I have some super glue in my car.”

Holly followed behind her, holding her shoes in her hands. She was wearing a skintight bright red dress to match her shoes. Her hair was in a tight bun on the top of her head and she looked pale and exhausted. XeKa jangled her keys in her hand as they exited the elevator and walked to her car. She found some super glue in the backseat as Holly handed her the heel. 

“I’m sorry to drag you away on break” Holly said, smiling at the girl across from her 

“Oh no it’s fine, I wasn’t on break, I’m just awful at my job” XeKa said, focusing on attaching the heel on straight so it would be stable for Holly to walk on.

Holly laughed loudly at XeKa’s joke and leaned against her car. 

“Why’d you come find me? Do I seem butch enough to have tools?” XeKa joked at Holly, holding the heel together

“Oh! NO! No no no not at all no i just don’t know anyone cause no one likes me and they all make fun of me i can see them calling me deaf girl and stuff they think i cant but i totally can i read lips i'm very good ive been deaf my whole life and like they think i'm just a twit cause I’m only 19 and thats not true i'm not a twit well i am but not about my job i'm dumb about everything else and also like i just have an inability to make friends and then when i do talk to someone i fuck it up-” Holly stopped suddenly, blushing crimson and looking at her bare feet on the pavement. 

XeKa laughed loudly “Deaf girl isn’t even original or creative” 

Holly laughed with her, “I know right!? Don’t these 40 year old women have anything else to talk about?” 

XeKa handed her the shoe, “I guess you’re just too good of gossip. If only they knew about your kitty cat pajamas.” She smiled broadly at Holly who blushed deeper 

“I hate you.” Holly muttered, slipping on her other shoe, “Ooo! It’s perfect thank you!! Thank you so much!” She leaned over and hugged XeKa before turning and running into the building to make it to her meeting. XeKa watched her go with a smile on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

Holly kicked her feet under the desk. She was bored of this meeting and they were only half way done. Why did they insist on meeting if they were going to get nothing done. It was a waste of her time. She was deeply considering firing her assistant for not getting her out of this. 

She decided to send XeKa a text   
Holly, 2:15pm I’m so bored I could cry. Why didn’t my assistant get me out of this? Over under on firing my assistant?   
XeKa, 2:16pm I say you shouldn’t as she probably tried and couldn’t. But I mean who’s to say i'm not the fucking executive data analyst’s assistant  
Holly, 2:16pm youre a lowly coder.   
XeKa, 2:16pm ok well thats a bit harsh  
XeKa, 2:17pm correct, but harsh  
Holly, 2:20pm we’re sweeping coding in like 10 minutes to make sure you lowly people are working just an fyi  
Holly, 2:20pm also i'm up for cfo once fred finally fucking retires  
XeKa, 2:21pm real shit?   
Holly, 2:21pm the realest. Add it to my long list of offenses that i’ve committed against the ladies who wish i would mcfucking die   
XeKa, 2:21pm mcfucking?  
Holly, 2:23pm mcdonalds themed fucking. I'm fucking but also i'm ronald mcdonald  
Holly, 2:24pm also put your mcfucking phone away we’re on our way

XeKa carefully tucked her phone into the locked drawer inside her desk and pulled up work that looked busy. She scrunched up her brow as though she was concentrating on something important as she waited for the group of executives to enter. Holly led the pack of them as they walked into the busy cubicle to do their walk throughs. Holly stopped to speak with a couple team leads to ask productivity questions as the other executives fanned out to look for slackers. Holly’s bright red heels didn’t match the rest of the group of frown line riddled executives. 

Holly’s heels clicked up behind XeKa “Are we getting caught up on Medicare numbers?” 

XeKa cleared her throat to keep from laughing as Holly reached over her shoulder and handed her a sticky note with a cat face doodled on it “Yes ma’am we’re nearly caught up.” 

“Excellent. Your team lead has let me know you’re struggling with Excel, is this true?” 

XeKa spun her chair to face Holly who was smiling down at her. Holly’s hair was falling out of the carefully crafted bun she had created, loose curls framing her face. XeKa blinked a couple times before responding “A bit, I’m getting close to understanding it though.” 

“Well I have a book in my office that may help, come see me around 3pm, I have a meeting to get to. Nice speaking with you, ah…” She trailed off

“XeKa. Pronounced Zee-Kah.” XeKa said sarcastically, messing with Holly

“Ah. Very good XeKa.” Holly said, turning and walking away. XeKa pocketed the note with a smile on her face. 

Holly picked at her nails as they swept the rest of the departments. She was bored and wanted to go home already. She wondered what her cat was doing as another executive glared at her from across the room. She straightened up and scanned the room for someone to pretend to bark orders at. 

She hovered over a worker who was on the phone with a patient who was concerned about their Medicare coverage. Holly pretended to listen and take notes as she waited for this worker to be done with the call. 

“Was that ok ma’am?” The worker said, looking up at Holly nervously.   
Holly cleared her throat, trying to think of something constructive to say “Yes, just remember to emphasize the 13 month rental period on all medical equipment.” Holly finally decided on with a bright smile. 

The worker seemed satisfied with that answer so Holly stepped away to join the fleeing flock of executives. She made her way back to her office after a couple more rounds of watching people work. This practice always made Holly immensely uncomfortable as she knew how nerve-racking it was to have someone stand over your shoulder and watch you work. 

After finishing some casual small talk with the current CFO about her looming promotion, Holly closed her office door and took off her heels, collapsing into her plush chair. She pulled her crochet into her lap and looked out the window at the cloudy sky. 

Holly heard a knock at her door and glared at it as she slipped on her heels to answer the door. She put on her best smile as she opened the door. 

“Oh thank god its just you. Come in, come in.” Holly muttered, kicking off her heels and relaxing back into her chair after she ensured the door was closed behind XeKa. XeKa shuffled into the chair opposite of Holly and settled into the plush comfy chair. She watched Holly crochet quietly. They just rested in the silence of the office and watched each other. XeKa spent some time scrolling through instagram and most of it just watching Holly work. 

There was a knock on the door and Holly stretched to go up and get it, motioning to XeKa to look busy. XeKa picked up a random book and pulled it into her lap as Holly swung open the door to reveal the current CFO, Fred. 

Fred cleared his throat, ‘Holly, can I speak with you or are you busy?”   
Holly smiled at him and motioned to XeKa, “Oh no I was just finishing with XeKa here, she was struggling with Excel.”   
XeKa smiled at Fred and stood, closing the book “Yup! Thank you for your help today, Holly.”   
XeKa left Fred and Holly alone to speak.


End file.
